Frictional Games, the developers of 'SOMA' [Official Site] have released their sales figures. The game sold about 450,000 copies of which 5,000 was from Linux gamers. So that's around 1.1%.
Update: It's worth noting that their overall figure includes PS4 sales. If it was comparing Linux against just PC systems it would have given Linux a higher mark.
Linux accounted for around 5000 direct sales.https://t.co/oZj39DROt9
— Frictional Games (@frictionalgames) September 23, 2016
That's completely in line with expectations given our market share on Steam it's about right.
They have said they will continue to support Linux, which is great to hear:
@jernejv @HeavyHDx Yes, idea is that future games will come to Linux too.
— Frictional Games (@frictionalgames) September 23, 2016
If you're interested, I spoke to a number of developers before [See Here] about their sales on Linux. You can see the latest entry here which links to the previous three before it too.
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Great to hear that!
And if you didn't play SOMA yet, go and get it!
Now what a decision that is you need to take in SOMA...
And if you didn't play SOMA yet, go and get it!
Now what a decision that is you need to take in SOMA...
1 Likes, Who?
Mohandevir Sep 23, 2016
Was it a day one support?
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Great Game, sadly my purchase was still in my Windows Time...
2 Likes, Who?
Nice to see what Frictional thinks about Linux!
I still need to play the Penumbra series, then I will surely buy SOMA, which looks absolutely great!!
I still need to play the Penumbra series, then I will surely buy SOMA, which looks absolutely great!!
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I still need to play the Penumbra series, then I will surely buy SOMA, which looks absolutely great!!
I first played Amnesia Dark Descent and Machine for Pigs. Afterwards, Penumbra unfortunately didn't cut in anymore.
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I haven't bought Soma, but I am interested in it. I buy lots of Linux games (on sales), but from time to time, I buy a Windows-only release, because either (a) I might resort to Windows to play it, or (b) I'm aware it is likely to come to Linux. [For instance, I got Rocket League, 4 months before it got ported to Linux, but didn't play it until I got it on Linux.]
Stats like this (1.1% Linux buyers) might not indicate the people who are dual-booting, but prefer to play on Linux (e.g. me).
Stats like this (1.1% Linux buyers) might not indicate the people who are dual-booting, but prefer to play on Linux (e.g. me).
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Got it on a humble monthly, IIRC, so it won't count as a direct sale, I am afraid :)
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1mHfoksd1Z Sep 23, 2016
Got it on a humble monthly, IIRC, so it won't count as a direct sale, I am afraid :)Yeah, me too... So I wonder... is this conted as a Linux or Windows sale?
I remember someone saying that if you play the first two hours on Linux it will be a Linux sale... but that it has to happen withing two weeks after activating it. Someone else said that if you activate the key on Linux then it's a Linux sale. Someone else said that if you activate it on Windows and then only play it on Linux for two hours within two weeks it'll be a Linux sale.
I don't know what to believe... I'm very confused about all this. Everyone is saying something different. Is there anyone who knows this thing for sure, and can shed some light on it once and for all?
I thing GoL should make an article, a "guide", about this and everything we need to know about how Linux sales work, about preorders, OS statistics, etc... because there's a lot of mismatching information going around and most of us don't know what it's speculation and what's fact.
6 Likes, Who?
I wonder how they count sales or downloads per platform. Does GOG provide them with such info?
Last edited by Shmerl on 23 September 2016 at 9:16 pm UTC
Last edited by Shmerl on 23 September 2016 at 9:16 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
natewardawg Sep 23, 2016
I finished this game a few days ago. I'm not a huge fan of the horror aspects, but I really enjoyed the story. If I had a top ten list for stories in games, this game would probably be on it.
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I recently replayed Penumbra - it's certainly not graphically current, but definitely still an enjoyably chilling experience.I still need to play the Penumbra series, then I will surely buy SOMA, which looks absolutely great!!
I first played Amnesia Dark Descent and Machine for Pigs. Afterwards, Penumbra unfortunately didn't cut in anymore.
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[quote=Eike]
Penumbra games are my personal favourites. I think the atmosphere is way more immersive and realistic. I also liked Amnesia a lot, but it is more theatrical.
The Machine for Pigs well... it kind of sucked. But it was not even made by Frictional Games so it does not count.
I first played Amnesia Dark Descent and Machine for Pigs. Afterwards, Penumbra unfortunately didn't cut in anymore.
Penumbra games are my personal favourites. I think the atmosphere is way more immersive and realistic. I also liked Amnesia a lot, but it is more theatrical.
The Machine for Pigs well... it kind of sucked. But it was not even made by Frictional Games so it does not count.
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I still need to play the Penumbra series, then I will surely buy SOMA, which looks absolutely great!!
I first played Amnesia Dark Descent and Machine for Pigs. Afterwards, Penumbra unfortunately didn't cut in anymore.
The Penumbra series had aged pretty bad as the amateur graphic was already behind the times, but story and atmosphere side I think it's still their best work.
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I wonder how they count sales or downloads per platform. Does GOG provide them with such info?Well, on Steam, a purchase is counted for a platform depending on what platform the user plays the game most on in the first week after purchasing. If the game is not played during that time, it defaults to the platform in which the game was purchased from.
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OK I'm defo buying this just on principle now. Have to support devs who push out Linux games even though we are a minority right now.
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Mountain Man Sep 24, 2016
Nice to see the developer isn't put off by the relatively few sales.
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This shows again how much every single sale count on this platform.
1 Likes, Who?
Nice to see the developer isn't put off by the relatively few sales.
I think 5000 copies should be enough to legitimate the Linux version. The had Linux versions for their Amnesia and Penumbra games before, so probably they are thinking about the Linux constraints before starting a new game, not afterwards. That should avoid some work.
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